The Muslim religion is a religion that is perceived in the West as a religion where the status of women is below that of men. He is also believed to have a puritanical outlook. For this reason, many people will be surprised that there are books that extol the virtues of the fair sex and, as a corollary, sex with them. One such book is the Perfumed Garden supposedly written by Sheikh Nefzawi.
Not much is known about this man. But the man who translated the ‘Scented Garden’, the life of Sir Francis Richard Burton is fairly well documented. Burton did a monumental job translating this book from Arabic in the late 1980s. The Perfumed Garden was commissioned by the Grand Vizier of Tunis and Jefzawi carried out his instructions.
The book is an interesting read as Interspersed throughout the book are a series of short stories with a sexual overtone that shed light on Sheikh Nefzawi’s theories of sex. The basic theme of the book is that the generative act is a source of great pleasure. He advises the lover to cohabit with a woman only after arousing her with playful caresses, kisses and licks. The Sheikh further discusses the various positions to be adopted for sexual love. He details 36 of them. However, some positions are fanciful and may not be practicable, but do not detract from the text of the book.
The sheik illustrates his theories with a series of stories in the book. These stories, if read on their own, can excite the imagination of any reader. One of the stories refers to Bauloul a Jester. This man had the gift of seducing a woman only with her sense of humor, in the story the jester seduces the princess Hamdouna and mates with her three times. During each mating the princess surrenders to the jester with gleeful abandon. The jester pleases the princess by kissing her vulva and her purple dome laden with moisture; the clitoris
Another tale in the book is the story of Joida, who loved her neighbor, a woman named Fadehat. Joida decided that the best part of winning a battle is taking offense. Perhaps he took a leaf from Clausewitz’s principles. He continued walking towards the lady’s chamber and undressed before her. The sight of her excited the lady so much that she fell very much in love with what she saw. He allowed Joida to undress her and Sheikh records that Joidi slept with the lady a total of twenty-seven times during the course of the night.
Another interesting tale is that of the prophetess Shejat Temira, who was seduced by the heretic Mosailama. The act had such a profound effect on the prophetess that she completely forgot about her work and prayer. Mosailama carried the prophetess on her back, on all fours and many more various positions.
The sheik displays tremendous knowledge of the sexual act throughout the pages of the volume. Chapter after chapter establishes the writer as the master of the act of procreation. One can simply marvel at the sheikh’s infinite knowledge. The scented garden also defines the importance of foreplay and acts of tenderness such as kissing, caressing, and using the tongue. These are good lessons in today’s ‘fast’ sex environment.
The sheikh has also contributed his knowledge of the female organs. He classifies the vulva into forty-one types and gives names to each type! The male organ is classified into thirty-nine types, and one may be amazed at the sheikh’s knowledge. He makes for exciting reading.
The last part of the text details the various diets to maintain sexual vigour. Sheikh’s recipes include eating various eggs boiled with cinnamon and pepper and fried in butter. Drinking camel milk mixed with honey is a strong recommendation. The reader can try some of the listed recipes. If nothing else, this will be a happy pastime, but ultimately we have Burton to thank for translating this masterpiece that undoubtedly ranks as one of the greatest erotica books of all time. For this alone Burton is immortal.